Political posts yet to reach half of 700 cap, govt says
The number of women appointed to senior positions in government companies is far higher than in any government.
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
The number of political positions in President Mohammed Muizzu's government is not even 350, according to Senior Spokesperson at the President's Office, Mohammed Shaheeb.
Shaheeb was responding to a question from Atoll Times at a press conference at the President's Office on Thursday.
"The President [Mohammed Muizzu] has said that he will keep political posts at 700. When I last checked yesterday, the number did not reach 50%," Shaheeb said.
During Thursday's press conference, journalists asked many questions about the increase in political positions in the government. Questions were also asked about the decrease in female appointments.
Presidential Under-Secretary Firzul Abdullah Haleel responded:
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As of yesterday, 22% of top government positions, excluding corporate managing directors, were women; That’s the same numbers in the government of former President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih
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The number of women appointed to senior positions in government companies is far higher than in any government; That number will increase in the coming days
He added that with the number of political posts kept at 700, the government's aim is to appoint people to posts based on efficiency or results as the President has already said.
"That means one thing that we need to achieve is to focus on the work in such a way that we have to do it in a proper way. So far, appointments to political posts, formation of government and structure of state institutions have all been considered in the following manner," Said Firzul in response to a reporter's question on the increasing number of political posts.
